


Shadow Work

by phoenixreal_gaming (phoenixreal)



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Scarred Lands (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-17 14:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal_gaming
Summary: Ashedon Shadowheart performs his work.





	Shadow Work

Ash stood in the upper story of an old building watching the town go by below.  Mithril was always the same and it would never change.  He sighed and sat down once more on a crate. Sometimes he wanted to get away…and he couldn’t.  The blasted suffocation of Mithril sometimes got to him.  But sometimes it was all worth it.  Sometimes he made a difference…

_“Bring him back alive if you can.  Don’t get caught, and get out as soon as you can.  We can’t afford to lose two Walkers to this bastard.  He isn’t even a Lord, and has no reason to do this other than to get the Lord’s attention.  We can’t let that happen.”_

_Ash was out and gone before two more breaths had passed between them.  He knew his mission and it would be a mildly difficult one.  Surprise would be his friend.  He couldn’t afford having his identity revealed.  That would be the difficulty.  And not killing the wizard the other difficult part of it.  He had four potions on his belt, to be used at the last moment.  Shadow Form would be how he got himself and the other Shadow Walker out of there, and something to aid retreat would be how they outpaced the Wizard, if he even tried to follow them.  They had cost a lot, but sometimes it was worth it.  The Lords could not get their hands on a Shadow Walker.  It could be total devastation to the Walkers of Mithril._

_He came up silently in the darkness surrounding the small building.  It would be tedious.  Just getting in.  He wasn’t even a penumbral lord…he was an aspiring penumbral lord.  He was doing this to get their attention.  Wrong move, buddy, he thought.  Take one of my people captive, I’ll slice your throat…  He moved into the house silent as the night and kept his eyes open.  He knew young wizards.  They were sooo overbearing and sure of themselves.  He slipped into the upper story and saw a door locked at either end of the hallway._

_He pressed an ear to one and held his own breath.  He heard rough breathing, but nothing more.  He went to the other end and heard breathing again, but this time intermittent with wheezing.  He nodded.  This is where he was.  A young Shadow Walker by the name of Anselm Briabac was his quarry.  He kneeled, picking the lock quickly with great efficiency.  He was soon in the room, once a bedroom apparently, but now a holding cell.  He saw the human, strung up by his hands to the beam in the ceiling, his fingers entwined with rope and a pair of bracers that looked stuck together.  Ash nodded.  Magic, no doubt, he’d seen those before.  Nasty things…it was extremely hard to get out of those.  Once together they stayed, unless the words were spoken to release them.  He was beaten a bit, probably to subdue him.  Ash knew that it had been a group of thugs that had jumped him and took off with him, delivering him to the house of the wizard._

_His feet were also tied together, though they did not touch the floor.  Ash knew by the looks that this young wizard had no idea that this young thief was a Shadow Walker.  He couldn’t have.  He probably only knew one thing of the Penumbral Lords, and that was they hated Mithril and for some reason had a problem with thieves… Ash set to work untying his feet first then set a chair under his feet for him to stand on.  He looked up, seeing he was indeed awake.  Ash nodded to him.  He then stood on the chair beside him, and brought his shortsword from his glove and cut at the ropes above.  He fell heavily against him and Ash cursed that he would not be able to stand on his own.  He shook his head and dug a small pouch out of his pocket and pressed the herbs into his mouth.  Hopefully the minor healing herbs would relieve his fatigue enough to allow him to stand.  Ash stood there a while until he felt that he had enough strength to step down._

_Just as he stepped from the chair to the floor, the chair busted underneath Ash.  Ash cussed out load this time because the sound would surely wake the dead even.  Blast it…he thought as he heard the banging open of the door.  Ash jumped to his feet and poured the first  potion down him, followed by the Shadow, then the door flew open leaving no time.  “Get out!” he shouted to Anselm.  “Go through the wall and run to safety…you can.”  And then Ash launched himself at the wizard.  He didn’t see what happened, but figured he’d melted out the crack in the wall and gotten away somewhere.  He couldn’t let him cast.  He barreled into him, blowing whatever spell he had ready as the energy at his fingers sizzled out of existence.  Ash smiled as he stood._

_“Who are you!” the wizard yelled as he turned about to face him._

_“Someone you’ll never see again…” Ash smirked and nodded his head and the world suddenly began to spin for the wizard, who completely lost his footing and fell flat to the floor.  Ash had a heavy gauze facemask on to ensure no identification.  But he was instructed not to kill the wizard.  Others would have play with him.  “Don’t touch us again, little man.”  With that Ash leaped over his form as he tried to stand and downed the potion of Shadow Form, and disappeared from the wizard’s sight.  “What where?” he asked stumbling into the room.  Ash moved past him and made haste down the stairs out melted through the doorway and to the road.  He checked for Anselm but he was long gone.  He ran the rest of the way until the potion wore off then he walked back to the appointed place._

_“Do you have him?” he asked._

_“We do.  He will live.  He’ll watch out next time for a group of thugs coming his way…”_

_“Yes.  He will.  Here’s this one back, I didn’t use it,” Ash said handing off the Potion he hadn’t used._

_“Well, thank you for your honesty…we knew that of course…but still.”_

_Ash nodded and walked out, stuffing his hands in his pockets.  All in a night’s work, he thought._

_“_ Yes, sometimes it’s worth it…” he said quietly as he watched the streets.  Sometimes, even in disorganization like theirs, someone could do something good.  Ash sighed and turned back to his dinner.

     


End file.
